Falinge Park High School

Falinge Park High School

As a reward for excellent attendance, behavior and attitude in their MFL lessons, 24 pupils in Year 8 were chosen to visit Manchester University for a language enrichment event. Pupils joined in discussions about why it is so important to learn languages for reasons such as travel, communicating with people from different countries as well as for their future careers.

Pupils also enjoyed language taster sessions and they can now speak a little Italian and Mandarin Chinese. They also worked with native speakers learning some Italian hand gestures and how to make a frog using a Chinese form of origami. Pupils really enjoyed the sessions and mostly enjoyed being able to experience their first taste of University life.

A reminder to parents of Year 7 pupils, that the proof photos of your child that were taken at the start of their first term in Falinge Park are still available to order direct from The School Photography Company. They can be ordered online or by post. Visit their website at www.tspc.biz.

We look forward to seeing all the teams who have booked for our Family Quiz Night that takes place on Thursday 7 February at 7pm. If you would like to come along and haven't booked yet then please contact mr De Courcey in the CEPA Office. The event is open to families and friends of school or learners can form groups too. The quiz will feature a range of questions from different subject areas and refreshments are available throughout. For more details, please see our school website.

Music students at FPHS are busy rehearsing for the forthcoming Rochdale Festival of Music, Speech and Dance in March. Rehearsals take place at lunchtimes and after school. Please see Ms Williams for more details and make sure that you check peripatetic music lesson times for any changes regularly.

Drama Club takes place every Wednesday after school and is open to students of all years in F5. The club features a variety of drama games and includes improvisation challenges and scripted pieces. The sessions are led by Mr Lomax and Mr De Courcey.

Ms Wystawnoha and Music, Art and Dance students have been busy preparing for our 'Project Hugo' showcase at Carnforth Station on the 23 March. The famous station will host our special one day event which is to include live dance, animation, model-making, filmed drama and an art exhibition. The station will also stage a special exhibition of learner work in the gallery space. For more details, contact Ms Wystawnoha or the CEPA Office.

We welcomed our CEPA Link Governors to the Faculty this week as Mr Sexton and Mr Booth took a tour of the facilities and met with staff. Our two governors saw learners engage in a range of arts related activities and discussed our transition into our new building for next year. Many thanks to both our guests and we hope to see them again soon.

Letters for our visit to Brungerley Park Sculpture Trail and Clitheroe Castle have gone out this week and we are delighted to announce that there are a very small number of places left. If you would like to be involved in the Saturday visit which also includes a trip to Bowland Wild Boar and Animal Park then please see Mr Morley for a letter. The visit is open to all years.

Two new learner competitions titled 'I Love Art' and 'I Love Dance' have been posted on our school website and issued to tutor groups this week. The competitions are open to all years and three winners will be announced from each competition. We have already received several entries and we look forward to seeing many more in the forthcoming weeks. Please hand in your completed entry forms to the CEPA Office at breaktimes and lunchtimes.

Please remember that weekly copies of 'The Stage' drama weekly newspaper and other Arts career related materials are regularly placed on the information display stand outside the CEPA Office. This material is to help learners make informed decisions about careers and opportunities available in the near future. Further back copies of the paper are available. Please see Mr Morley for more details.

Learners across all years completed a survey this week to take a deeper look at our learning attitudes. The survey will be used to better inform our curriculum content and we will publish our findings shortly as we try to use the information our learners provide when shaping the way we teach. Many thanks to the CEPA Technicians for co-ordinating the survey and all students who participated.

Our theatre visit to see the hit musical 'Hairspray' takes place this week and most places are now full. Please see Ms Williams or Ms Wystawnoha if you would like to come along and have not yet received a letter.

Our Year 7 CALL learners took a visit to Falinge Park this week to photograph various locations as part of a newspaper writing activity. Groups of four took a range of photographs which will be incorporated into journalistic articles about monster sightings and urban myths. We look forward to seeing the finished pieces as display work very soon.

Film Club will be asking learners to make a donation this week as we attempt to raise money for an ex-student's ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro. Former student, Calvin Chan, who is currently studying at the London School of Economics, is trying to raise money to make the ascent for charity. We wish him all the very best and we will be collecting donations through the week at lunchtimes. For more details, see Mr Morley or Ms Skerrow.